Software to enrich the noun lexicons and lexical learning of children with autism

Impaired language is recognized as one of the hallmarks of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite extensive incidental exposure to language, many children with ASD have a markedly limited vocabulary and are clearly in need of formal remediation. The objective of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant is to develop a curriculum and prototype software for a research-based vocabulary development program featuring a combined lexical-cognitive approach to noun acquisition. The target population for the curriculum will be children ages 3 to 12 with ASD as well as a broad range of other children with language disorders. The curriculum will focus on helping children to develop the learning processes necessary for efficient lexical acquisition and organization, and on laying the groundwork for a rich and semantically well organized conceptual framework. In Phase I, a subset of the curriculum will be developed and used in field-testing with subjects in the target populations. Data collected will be used to guide Phase II development and field-testing of the full curriculum for efficacy with the target populations specified. This will provide a cost effective means to promote early language and cognitive development in children with ASD as well as a broad range of other children with language disorders.